Alesanco

Alesanco municipality
Alesanco - vineyards with Ermita de Nuestra Señora del Prado
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	La Rioja
Province :	La Rioja
Comarca :	Comarca de Nájera
Coordinates	42 ° 25 ′  N , 2 ° 49 ′  W Coordinates: 42 ° 25 ′  N , 2 ° 49 ′  W
Height :	565  msnm
Area :	17.17 km²
Residents :	505 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density :	29.41 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	26324
Municipality number  ( INE ):	26009
administration
Website :	Alesanco

Alesanco is a place and a municipality (municipio) with 505 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the west of the northern Spanish autonomous region of La Rioja . The place is a little south of the main route of the Camino de Santiago ( Camino Francés ) ; the community is part of the Rioja Alta wine region .

Location and climate

The wine town of Alesanco is located on the Río Tuerto approx. 35 km (driving distance) west of the provincial capital Logroño at an altitude of approx. 565  m ; the historically and culturally significant city of Santo Domingo de la Calzada is only 14 km to the northwest. The climate is temperate to warm; Rain (approx. 615 mm / year) falls mainly in the winter half-year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2001	2018
Residents	1,240	1,308	1,135	476	502

The phylloxera crisis in viticulture, the increasing mechanization of agriculture , the abandonment of small farms and the resulting unemployment have led to a significant population decline since the middle of the 20th century ( rural exodus ).

economy

In earlier centuries, the inhabitants of the place lived largely as self-sufficiency, directly or indirectly (as craftsmen and small businesses) from the agriculture in the area . As early as pre-Roman times, a nearby trade route connected the Ebro Valley with the Iberian Meseta . Viticulture , which has been practiced since Roman times , gained in importance, especially in the 19th century, when French winemakers settled in the Ebro Valley to produce wine based on the French model.

history

Alesanco - Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción

No traces of prehistoric, Celtiberian , Roman , Visigoth or even Moorish traces were made in the municipality, but the place name is already mentioned in the Crónica Albeldense (around 860). Around the year 920 Sancho I of Navarre conquered the upper Ebro valley; he even managed to establish a small Christian empire in the Iregua Valley south of the Ebro . At the beginning of the 11th century, the area under Sancho III. a heyday of Navarre ; he divided his kingdom in will among his three sons, which resulted in persistent territorial conflicts between the kingdoms of Navarre , Castile and Aragon . In 1076 the area was occupied by Alfonso VI. conquered by Castile .

Until the major territorial reform of 1833, Alesanco belonged to the old Castilian province of Soria ; then the small town was slammed into the newly created province of Logroño . In 1980 the name of the Province of Logroño was changed to La Rioja ; it also received the status of an autonomous region .

Attractions

• The Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción , built in the 16th century, is dedicated to the Assumption of Mary ; the side bell tower (campanario) , mostly made of bricks , is about 200 years younger. The interior of the church has a single nave with side chapels and is spanned by a late Gothic star vault. The late baroque altarpiece (retablo) was completed in 1769.

Surroundings

• In its current form from the 17th / 18th centuries. Ermita de Nuestra Señora del Prado , which dates back to the 19th century, stands - in the midst of vineyards - about 1 km east of the village. It is believed that there used to be a place and a church called San Pelayo here. The late Romanesque statue of Our Lady inside may still come from this church .
• The monastery of Santa María de San Salvador is only about 4 km southwest in the area of ​​the municipality of Cañas .

Web links

Commons : Alesanco  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Alesanco photos and quick facts (spanish)
• Alesanco, tourism etc. - photos and information (Spanish)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cifras oficiales de población resultantes de la revisión del Padrón municipal a 1 de enero . Population statistics from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (population update).
2. ↑ Alesanco - Population Development
3. ↑ Alesanco - Church
4. ↑ Alesanco - Ermita